Biddle arthuks



B. ARTHURS.

Hot-Air Furnace.

Patented Nov. 12, 1867.l

N-PETEHS, PHOTO-LITHOGRAFHER, WHINGTON. D C

@uitrit tstta gefilmt ffies.

HOT-AIB. FURNAGE.

fitte rtitule referat tr. it tten Eaters tant mit mating anni nt the smut.

To ALL wnoM 1r MAY coNcEnN;

Be it known that I, BIDDLE ARTBURS, of Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful improvement in Hot-Air Furnaces; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, land exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a. vertical longitudinal section ofV my improved heating-furnace; and

Figure 2 is a transverse section, formed by a vertical plane passing through my improved heating-furnace forward of the rear wall of the {ire-space.

Like letters of reference indicate like parts.

My invention relates to that class of hot-air furnaces employed to heat or warm dwelling-houses, hotels, public edifices, and buildings generally, or parts thereof, in which a higher temperature thauthat o`f the atmosphere is, at any time, desired. Such furnaces are usually placed in the basement or cellarof the building they are designed to warm, and, for use in many and large parts of our country, have to be adapted for yburning the soft or bituminous'coal, which, in such localities, is the chief, and, except at a considerable cost, the only, article of fuel. Such'coal, it is well known, while' undergoing combustion,'evolves large quantities of gas and carbon, which pass oit` unconsumed, and which, with the dust and ashes carried through the re hy the dradghharelable to be carried, through the registers, into the rooms to be warmed, unless'the lire-space and pipes leading therefrom be, with respect to the hot-air chamber and registers, perfectly air-tight. Hence, in constructing such furnaces, particularly when they are `designed for the consumption of bituminous coal, two serious difficulties have been encountered: `first, to make the sides or wallsjof the {ire-space. of the furnace of such kind and thickness of material as will readily transmit heat to the hot-air chamber, and, at the Sametime, not be liable to speedy destruction or injury by the direct action'of the fire itself; and, second, so to construct the re-space and-pipes, or other communications leading therefrom, that no dust, smoke, gases of combustion, or otherdeleterious or offensive matter, shall escape into the apartments to be warmed. My invention consists in the construction of a hot-air heatingffurnace for warming buildings generally, or parts thereof, and calculated eectnall'y to obviatc thesediiiiculties. i i

' To enable others skilled in the art to make and'use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and mode of operation.

a is the floor of my improved heating apparatus, resting on the cellar-bottom or other desirable foundation; al', the rear and side wallsga, the covering or roof, and b the front wall, all of brick or other desirable material, and of such thickness and so built as to be air-tight, except at the proper apertures, as hereinafter'to be mentioned. Inside this I construct a fire-space, c, having side walls d d, and a rear wall, cZ', all of lirelbrick, or lined with Jdre-brick. By these I support the lire-grate e and the front end of the heater j'. This heater f I make of heavy rolled or sheet metal, of cylindrical or other desirableshape, except that on the lower side, at its front end, I cnt out asection, as shown in iig. 1, so that the fire-space c shall be uncovered, and open directly into the heater f. The section thus taken o'ut leaves a notch in the heaterf, in depth'about equal to the depth -of the fire-spacec, and in height sniiicient to give the fire a free and open passage upward into the heater f.

The jointsof the heater are, by riveting or otherwise, made 'air-tight and, for the purpose of securing similar `joints where it joins the masonry, I makeianges zz' along the edges of the notch, cnt as above Aset forth, which anges are built into the masonry, substantially as shown'in the drawings.l The pipe g also makes an air-tight joint with the heater f and roof a, through which it leads into thechi-mney, so vthat no dust, or smoke or noxious ga'ses which come from the -re in lthe fire-space' c, can escape into the apartmentsof the house through the air-chamber h. The supporter l sustains the rear end of the heater f, though other means of support may be substituted in lieu thereof. The rear wall d of the tire-space c has a flue, m, leading from below the grate e to the re above the grate, or into the heater f. It is opened and closed by a damper, n, to regulate the draught. It is also used as an ash-flue, and for other similar purposes, in the usual manner. The chimney z, or pipe q, has a similar damper, a', also forregulating'the draught. o is a door opening into the're-space c, andp ardocr closing the man-hole, to be opened for convenience of cleaning. One. or more pipes s lead from the air-chamber a to registers, or otherwise open into the various apartments to be warmed; and, if desired, one or more similar pipes s lead from such apartments back to the air-chamber h, to supply fresh air; or fresh air may be introduced from without in any desirable way. If it be desired to heat an `apartment: or building rapidly, the pipeV `s may be used, whereby cold air will be conducted out of the room as fast as hot air is let into it, and such circulation be kept up till the room is properly heated, when, by properly-constructed dempers, the pipe s may n be closed; and, as heated air naturally rises, the pipe s should lead from near the top of the air-chamber h, and the pipe s discharge naar the bottom.

I prefer the drum or boiler-shaped heaterfto heaters of other forms. It can be constructed at small cost, and, being made of rolled or sheet metal, is less liable to injury from the heat by alternate andirregular expansion and contraction. It presents a large amount of heating surface for receiving and transmitting heat. I make it usually, for ordinary dwelling-houses, about six feet in length, by from thirty to forty inches in diameter, more or less, varying the proportions somewhat, as may be necessary or advisable, and varying also the shape, provided an equivalent surface be secured for the radiation of heat into the air-chamber 7L. Then, when such heater fis placed over a fire-space c in the manner described, the requisite amount yof' heat can usually be obtained without raising the heater f even to a red heat; and practically I have found it diicult to reach that temperature, since it seldom, if ever, happens that either the flame or the current oi' hot air from the tire strikes directly against the heater f in any part. Consequently the action of the heat on its interior surface will be more uniform than in the heaters of such furnaces generally, so that liability to injury from unequal expansion and contractioulwill be almost entirely'obviated.; Also, since the heater f is air-tight Wit-l1 respect to the sur. rounding air-chamber h, no smoke, dust, uneonsumed gases, or carbon, can escape into the chamber 7L to mix with the heated air therein; and I claim it as especially superior for this purpose. The impurities above named, resulting from the combustion of bituminous coal, are in uo case allowed to mix with the air in the air-chamber t; or, if anthracite-coal be used, the carbonio acid gas evolved therefrom while burning is, with other noxious gases, carried o'in like'manner. I burn not only the articles o' fuel in general use for the production of' heat, but, in connection with suitable apparatus for burning the same, I -also employ petroleum and its products and compounds. i

p By building the walls d d inside the outer walls a a', so that the air of the chamber t shall receive heat from the fire-space c o n three 4of its sides, as Well as from the heater f, I add au additional improvement. The surface for radiating heat is thus brought to a maximum. The heat transmitted through these walls dd', instead of passing oit' into theatmosphere of the cellar` or basement and being Wasted, is utilized and applied to heating the room or rooms to be warmed.

Another ipiportant advantage consists in the fact that the walls of the fire-space c are made entirely of brick, which is separate from, and forms nopart oi', the drum f, whereas, in heaters of .ordinary construction, the re-pot's attached to and forms part of the heater, so that, when the former burns out, both heater and Ere-pot have to be removed for renewal or repair; but, by my improvement, the heater f is, by the ilangcs t', built into the walls Za d d', so connected therewith as not only to make tight Ijoints, butthat the lining of the brick iire-space may be easily repaired or renewed from time to time Without disturbing the heater. The annoyance of the escape of smoke and dustinto the air-dues is thus also eifectually prevented.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The drum or heater of sheet or plate iron, with an opening in its bottom and front, connecting with a lire space, c, of brick, the edges of the heater or drum around such opening having flanges built into the furnacewalls, constructed and arranged substantially as described for the purposes specified.

In testimony whereof I, the said BIDDLE ARTHURS, have hereunto set my hand in presence of- BIDDLE ARTHURS Witnesses:

A. S. NICHOLSON, Gao. H. CHRISTY. 

